Airgun crime in East Cleveland has been non-existent this summer, police said today.

Airgun crime in East Cleveland has been non-existent this summer, police said today.

But they vowed to keep up the pressure at what was once an airgun blackspot.

The Evening Gazette's Ban Young Guns campaign coincided in the Loftus and Skinningrove area with a police crackdown on young people with airguns.

Last month, there was delight when three weeks passed without any airgun incidents.

But police today confirmed that the summer as a whole - and particularly the notorious school holiday season - has so far passed by without a single report of airgun misuse.

Community Safety Officer, PC Eddie O'Hara, said: "It was all about eradicating airguns from the Loftus, Skinningrove and Brotton area and I think we've done it.

"There was an airgun culture around here, especially among young males. They thought they could just go around shooting these things, but we've got it into them that they can't.

"The Gazette campaign coincided with what we were trying to do around here and it has worked magically - far beyond what I expected."

To get a ceasefire, PC O'Hara and colleague PC Rachel Dick started several initiatives. They included an airgun amnesty, which saw more than a dozen weapons handed in, visiting schools and known airgun users, and patrolling areas regularly used by weapon holders.

But despite the success, PC O'Hara says the fight against airgun misuse will continue.

He said: "I don't want anyone to think we'll let this drop now - we won't be complacent. We'll be back in the schools from September and any chance we get, we'll be patrolling areas like the woods to keep this in check.

"I'm also urging anyone who encounters problems with people firing airguns to contact me."